Used by permission of Frankd Robinson, Visual Artist & Activist

So, here I am, deep into the draft for my next stageplay, Honey’s Kitchen. I’m constantly developing the story, the characters, and envisioning the set.  Then, one day in February, a tragic event stopped my creation process dead in its tracks.  I came across a headline about an unarmed teenager murdered by, of all things, a neighborhood watch captain.  By this time, we should all be familiar with most of the details surrounding this painful & devastating moment in the Black community as well as the nation. While George Zimmerman is currently on trial for the death of Trayvon Martin, many of us have went on with our lives, as the media provides some details of the trial while managing to dig up the next event to sensationalize.

Coverage of the case begin to dip shortly after Zimmerman’s arrest, with updates occurring here & there now. The good thing is that many of us are keeping posted the best way we can. Meanwhile, as a community & a nation, we need to determine how to repair the image of Black men and boys in the larger society.

There were some positive outcomes to this tragedy, for sure. It seemed as if the spirit of protest has been revived within the community, especially among the younger sector.  At the same time, some artists took to one of their responsibilities & used their work to make a social/political statement.  Of course, it is harder than ever to hold the attention of the masses due to a ceaseless stream of information on the interwebs. Now, more than ever, I believe that it’s up to the artists to ensure that events of this tragic nature are not buried in history. By using our artistic gifts to speak to this and several other issues that plague our society, we will be able to ensure that it stays fresh on the conscious of the people. That way, we can perhaps generate a spark in many people to be active in their communities. At least, that’s the hope, anyway. 

Considering that Honey’s Kitchen is a work that attempts to deal with apathy in the Black community, it was only divine that I stop the current direction of the script and revamp the plot points to make sure I do my part to keep this case on the minds of people. The stage play was suppose to debut this year, but it’s been pushed back to May 2013 for that specific reason. Perhaps I’ll share a few pages here on the blog so you can see the work as it unfolds.

Justice for Trayvon Martin

This is not an exhaustive list and surely, there can be many more added, however, here are twenty of the most essential books by Black women writers that every Black woman should own, according to me….and I ain’t no junk, ya dig?  

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God — Zora Neale Hurston

2. Sula — Toni Morrison

3. Mama Day — Gloria Naylor

4. The Wedding — Dorothy West

5. Some Love, Some Pain, Sometimes — J. California Cooper

6. Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine — BeBe Moore Campbell

7. Lillian: Resurrection of a Daughter — Ntozake Shange

8. The Street — Ann Petry

9. Passing — Nella Larsen

10. The Chinaberry Tree — Jessie Redmon Fauset

11. The Farming of Bones — Edwidge Danticat

12. Kindred — Octavia Butler

13. Sapphire’s Grave — Hilda Gurley-Highgate

14. The River Where Blood is Born — Sandra Jackson-Opoku

15. Jesus, Jobs, & Justice: African American Women & Religion — Bettye Collier-Thomas

16. Erotique Noire — eds. Miriam DeCosta Willis, Reginald Martin, and Roseann P. Bell

17. Best Black Women’s Erotica — Blanche Richardson

18. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl — Harriet Jacobs

19. Shake Loose My Skin — Sonia Sanchez

20. A Voice from the South — Anna Julia Cooper

REAL Red Tails

By now, you’re fully aware that, Red Tails, George Lucas’ cinematic account of the Tuskegee Airmen opened in theaters across the country this weekend.  Sitting in my cushiony seat at the Malco Paradiso theater on Saturday night, I thought about all of the hype before the film; the barrage of posts on my FB newsfeed encouraging support for the film and the usual counter offense of those who stated that they weren’t in any hurry to see the film because of this reason or that reason.  To that, I say–Whatever.  Most of them are all bitching about the fact that the film was done by George Lucas and he’s making money off of Black folks, blah, blah, blah.  O…..kay.

The last time I checked, African Americans have close to $1 trillion dollars worth of spending power and approximately 1% of those dollars are circulated back into our communities. It can be reasonably surmised that George Lucas is not the only white man in this country making money off of us — so, if we’re gonna get pissed about something like this — let’s all get angry enough to launch and manage viable businesses within our communities, shall we? Besides, if we understand anything about the Hollywood machine, then we should all be miffed at the fact that it took someone like Mr. Star Wars to get the film to the Silver Screen — and from what he has said publicly, even he had problems getting the film financed, thereby, causing him to drop some of his own money into it. At present, what Black producer/director in Hollywood has enough clout to get such a film with a multi-million dollar budget and major distribution done?

Don’t worry. I’ll wait….and contrary to popular belief, Black Hollywood’s Golden Boy, Tyler Perry, does not have it like that in Tinsel Town.   So, as far as Hollywood goes, who else could have done it?  As I thought about it some more, I wondered if any of these people with this particular gripe could name just one Black indie film and filmmaker, other than Tyler Perry. Hollywood is about politricks and apparently, Lucas had enough pull, and money, to get the movie to the screen, eventually.  Black folks are running out to see the film for the same reason they flock to go see every other film with a Black face — because we are literally starving to see something that we can relate to; at least Red Tails gave Black moviegoers the added bonus of showcasing a piece of our history.  For those who moaned about the historical accuracy of the film, it never intended to do that and the disclaimer ‘Inspired by true events’  before the opening scene took care of that, although the film presented an actual citation of the 1925 Army report echoing the highly fabricated ‘scientific’ research that blacks were intellectually inferior. For historical accuracy, one must start the journey by engaging in that age-old task of reading a damn book (or several books) on the subject, because Hollywood’s purpose is to sensationalize, not educate.

Now, will there be some moviegoers who were completely unaware of the history of  the Tuskegee Airmen before this film? Yes. Will it spark their curiosity and make them hungry to learn more?  Yes. Do I think it’s sad that there are some of us who hadn’t learned about the Tuskegee Airmen before the film? Yes.  But I’m equally bothered by the fact that there are Black students who think that the Black Panthers are an NFL team and that Jesse Jackson is one of Michael Jackson’s brothers.  However, I do not expect Hollywood nor the school system to take up the task of teaching our history and culture.  That’s a job for the community — and it’s safe to say that we’re slacking.

The Leading Men of Red Tails.

Here’s the skinny, Red Tails is worth supporting for the sake of the Tuskegee Airmen’s phenomenal story.  It’s obvious that Lucas’ whole objective was to present these men for the heroes that they are, which is why I believe it was a challenge to get this film financed. It wasn’t just a film starring an all-Black cast because Hollywood will do that every now and then, but this was a cast starring all Black men. None of them were robbing, shooting, raping, stealing, lying, molesting, pimping, abusing drugs or women, and wearing dresses.  Also, they were not there to hit punchlines every other minute.  They were in distinguished roles and doing their part to level off the actors’ playing field in Hollywood by being desirable leading men. You see, Hollywood is designed to continually purport white men as leads — they are to be heroic, desired by women, and, ultimately, the prime example of masculinity.  Don’t believe me? Just check out Hollywood’s latest trend of releasing these movies along the same lines as 300 (a movie that is in a LOT of Black men’s movie collections). Think about it. If you were a white Hollywood executive, would you want to put your money in a film with a cast of Black men who could possibly start a trend that’ll undo decades of the white male image? For example, every time there was a close-up of that yummy Nate Parker*, I would nudge my sistafriend sitting beside me and she would giggle.

Lastly, another reason to support the film is because most of the actors are young and still building their acting careers. If anything, their presence in the film indicated the scarcity of famous Black male actors in Hollywood. Those fine young men have to eat and pay their bills so supporting the film and buying the DVD will allow them to get residual checks while they continue to look for work, hopefully, Red Tails will make it a bit easier for them.  We will see.  All in all, I do get it; getting to the theaters to see the movie is not a real movement, and by this time, we’re supposed to know how to go about getting our stories told through our own efforts.  Although it will help in some way, Red Tails won’t change a thing on any major scale in Hollywood, but neither will sitting on your $10 during the opening weekend.  

C/K

*Nate Parker is the new Denzel. Yeah I said it.

So, I went to dinner with three friends this past Friday night. We were sitting at a hibachi table with a brotha and his daughter and son.  Before they left, we found out that it was the young girl’s birthday and that she was turning fifteen.  In the midst of dinnertime conversation, the subject of Amber Cole was brought up.  Now, just in case you don’t know, I’ll bring you up to speed because with all of the things going on in the world, it is definitely possible to miss a piece of information.  

Amber Cole is a fourteen year old girl in Baltimore that was caught on video performing oral sex on a boy outside their school. There’s been some back and forth about whether Amber was aware that she was being recorded. Either way, that is not the gist of this post. Of course, this video circulated like wildfire all over the internet.  Not surprisingly, the young girl’s name, honor, and everything else has been harshly criticized. However, as I think about the incident, I can’t help but feel sorry for the young girl.

Youth, naivete, and lack of mentoring can manifest itself in some disturbing ways, in addition, we also have to look at how cultural influences strongly impact our children.  With the constant barrage of alleged sex tapes of entertainers filtering the cyber-underground, is it a surprise that these young people thought it was dope to make their own version?  Considering that the image/perception of Black women being sexually promiscuous and nearly everything uncivilized is still prevalent, should others be so judgmental if possibly Amber’s idea of a Black woman is wrapped up in those lingering stereotypes?

As an avid lover of Hip Hop culture, I would be remiss if I didn’t hold accountable the deteriorated aesthestic of much of today’s rap music and its’ influence on the sexuality of Black youth. Since its inception as a cultural force during the ’80s, it’s always had its misogynistic leanings, however, we did have some tight ass representation with MC Lyte & Queen Latifah to balance us out. But the point here is, despite all of the influences, Amber should be embraced by us with lots of love.  Where is the community of Black women who are willing to sit down and talk to her without a scolding, offensive tongue?  When I was growing up, my mother and several of her friends that I dubbed ‘my other mamas’ broke life down to me in the frankest and simplest terms and I’ve been forever blessed with their impartation of knowledge and wisdom.  You see, Amber Cole, to me, is not really any different from us when we were her age.  For many of us as teenage girls, boys were at the center of our universe.  We defined and validated ourselves based on how much those young boys liked us.  Also, let’s be honest here, sexual feelings were coursing through our veins, too and we’ve all done our fair share of stupid things all for the sake of being liked, or, ‘loved’ by our ‘boyfriends’. For the most part, we should all be thankful that camera phones weren’t around to record our foolery.  

In defense of Amber, I will make a confession.  When I was fourteen, I was a seasoned pro at masturbating and I had already made out with a couple of boys under the bleachers after football games.  Now, I’m sure that the notion of me being a ‘fast ass little girl’ has ran across your minds as you read this — but I don’t care. Because if many of you will be honest with yourselves, you will know that the joy of innocence for our children was stripped away a long time ago — so let’s not be so hypocritical about this situation.  As adults, we are competing with some strong and powerful forces out here that are vying for the attention of our children, therefore, we have to make a special effort to talk directly to our children like grown folks.  The whole ‘just don’t do it’ directive barely worked with our generation as there were fourteen year old girls becoming mothers during my days at my Mississippi high school.  

Of course, during these current times, the discussion has to take on more of an urgent tone because of teen domestic violence, child pornography, HIV/AIDS & other sexually transmitted diseases. But, also, we have to make sure our children understand the dynamics of knowledge of self and building healthy love relationships. They have to learn about their identity in God as well as in the world, and yes, there is a need for them to begin their journeys in understanding their complicated Blackness.  For young Black girls, they have to learn about the historical and cultural implications of Black womanhood.  With all of these factors combined, they will be empowered to make sound decisions about their lives, prayerfully choosing to abstain until their minds and spirits can catch up with their bodies, and most importantly, when they are safely within the confines of a beautiful, loving, respectful relationship that blesses them rather than deplete them of their self-worth.  

To that end, there’s some more Amber Coles out here and they’re in their 20s, 30s, and even their 40s; Black women who are simply not equipped to engage in any kind of love relationship because they are not doing the work on themselves.  Quite possibly, this could be the reason for some of the backlash.  Perhaps, those women who viciously attacked Amber Cole or, at least, snubbed their noses at her, caught a glimpse of themselves; maybe many of them are basically doing the same thing as Amber — vying for the attention and affection of a man because their self-worth depends on it.  I, along with two of my friends, expressed many of these sentiments at the dinner table that Friday night and the fifteen year old was honed in to every word. It is my prayer that she will take everything that we said to heart and make a much wiser decision than Amber. Meanwhile, let all of us, with compassion, pray for Amber, those boys, and their families. 

You see, I consider myself to be a multi-layered woman; not exactly complex, because I’m too expressive for people to find me that way, but rather hard to define because I move between categories, labels, and expectations with fluidity. While I do have much in common with my woman tribe, there’s quite a bit of distinctiveness that I have adorned as my ‘cosmic flyness’.  Because I’m an artist whose work manifests itself in the form of the written word, I take full advantage of the power of creative licensing. Therefore, cosmic flyness is my way of adhering to what makes me special; it’s my brand of ‘otherworldliness’, a term I picked up when I delved into Ev’Yan’s Sex, Love, & Liberation.  During my adolescence and early adulthood, I managed to hide a good deal of myself from many people, including my closest friends. But now, since my emotional & spiritual well-being is dependent upon exposing my cosmic flyness and living to my full potential, you can imagine how longtime friends are quite surprised to see what they perceive as a ‘change’, but in actuality, I’ve been this way all along.  

Considering that I’m a Black woman raised and still living in the South, attempting to see the world through another lens besides those imposed by family, church, or immediate community can leave a sister feeling quite alienated. So, I find myself taking special effort to be ‘regular’, because I know that everyone doesn’t know how to deal with a woman who listens to P-Funk & Hip Hop religiously and cover a range of conversations such as, but not limited to, the Occupy Movement, Black Liberation Theology, rare books by Black authors, and eroticism all within the same day, and if I’m engaging in any form of social media, do all of them simultaneously.  In addition, I still identify myself as a Christian (which is a walk of faith that situates Christ as both Savior and Example), but I hate Christianity (which is a religion mandated by denominationalism and manipulations of Scripture) .  Eyebrows raised yet?    

But, you know, being regular can be such a strain for me, especially when I see or hear something that I need to address with my Chandra-ness.  Since I’d gotten so used to hiding, I tend to do that unconsciously and, unfortunately, the times when I should assert my cosmic flyness, I find myself hesitant and tempering my responses. But now that I’m in the throes of undoing this last piece of restrictive living so I can forge full steam ahead into the life meant to be, I have to resolve it within myself that I’m going all in with my cosmic flyness.  That’s why it’s vital that I surround myself with people just like me — multi-layered, gifted, and unchained to the status quo. For instance, I have a friend of mine that can discuss polyamory with the same casualness as her current nail color and another friend that can discuss motherhood with an elaborate Southernness and critique films with avidity.   

Now, I’m aware of the fact that I’m not the only woman who tends to be concerned about how well they will be accepted among their peers or within their community.  Let’s face it.  Acceptance is a big deal for human beings.  We can promote individuality and push that self-important talk with as much vigor as we can muster, but, we have an innate desire to connect with each other and to be accepted. Due to societal/cultural conditioning and upbringing, especially for Black women, it can be a real challenge to fully let down all walls and ‘keep it 100′.  It’s a good thing that we have several role models of women who expressed their cosmic flyness in its full splendor. Legendary jazz empress, Dinah Washington was married eight times and divorced seven times.  This was quite a feat for a Black woman living during the ’40s and ’50s.  I’m certain she caught a great deal of criticism for that.  There’s also Josephine Baker, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Nikki Giovanni, Betty Davis (Miles’ ex-wife), & Sonia Sanchez just to name a few.   As for today, there’s sistas like Erykah Badu & Janelle Monae, who I’ve been touting as the President & Vice-President of the unofficial Quirky Black Girls Club. At the end of the day, we all have to be true to ourselves — and how many times have we heard that? Well, some things are just right and exact so if you’re anything like me — possess a certain something that just doesn’t allow you to be counted in the number of regulars, stand up for yourself so I can see ya and let’s all stop hiding.  If we don’t, everyone in the world will think that all Black women are either like the Basketball Wives or Tyler Perry characters. 

The comments section is open.    

Cultural Translation: 

Music, art, and literature reflects the tonality of society and determines cultural messages during a specific time period.  For instance, within American society, there is a pride taken by many in being such a powerful authority in the world and much of that attitude is prevalent in cultural messaging.  But how this message is interpreted becomes critical in how the country is perceived by the rest of the world (this is essentially cultural translation).  In some cases, this pride could be read as arrogance or perhaps condescension; therein lies the responsibility of ensuring that cultural messages are received appropriately out of respect for history and the peoples of the world.

To that end, Black people in America must also be leery about troubling, or denigrating aspects of our culture being situated as proper reference points for validating ‘how we are’.  Much of Black art and culture has been sacrificed to the god of capitalism, leaving it nullified in splendor and void, in many cases, of any intellectual beauty.  Richness embodies our experience in this world, not just in this nation.  Vital events, people, and cultural property such as books, music, plays, paintings, etc have faded away into obscurity because there is not much of a mainstream movement afoot to initially introduce and later preserve them as definitive cultural identifiers.

Ok, let me just take off the scholar’s robe, get barefoot and see if I can break this thang down.  Seriously, y’all, people like Lil’ Wayne, Soldja Boy, Wacka Flacka, Nicki Minaj, Tyler Perry, and shows like Basketball Wives, Flavor of Love, and the Real Housewives of Atlanta have been included officially in the repertoire of Black cultural production.  You see, the thing about Pop culture is that it remains popular, even after the trend has faded.  For instance, the reason why we know about the Beatles and Elvis, whether we are fans or not, is because during their peak, they were (and still are) Pop Culture royalty.  Pop culture, during any given decade/century, is the source that historians use to document the spirit of the times. Hmmm…..does the presence of the aforementioned people accurately indicate the spirit of the times for Black folks?  

Given the course of how things have been going thus far, we are not in complete control in the telling of our story — so unless a major overhaul happens during this time, who we are and how we were will continue to be told from the perspective of other people (read: White people) besides us.  Do you see how easily the film adaptation of The Help eased into the mainstream? Meanwhile, on our end, we have a grown man that has built a multi-million dollar media empire by largely dressing up as an elderly Black woman with a penchant for cussing, fighting, and misquoting Scripture. If that’s not bad enough, Basketball Wives & the Real Housewives of Atlanta makes Sapphire from Amos N Andy and Hattie McDaniel from Gone With the Wind look like goddesses in comparison. 

In my opinion, there seems to be too much ‘shoulder shrugging’ (nonchalance and apathy) when it comes to things like this. Because of their myopia, some of us are convinced that we don’t even need to worry about our past nor our image and how it affects our present. But, on the contrary, we are suffering tremendously now because of the lies and half-truths that have shaped the collective perception of us — in our own eyes as well as among other groups.  Many of us have embarked upon this tedious journey of trying to uncover and dispel as much historical inaccuracy as we can, but it will be all for nothing if this onslaught of one-dimensional depictions persist.  

Before someone reading this dismiss me as some elitist or a hater, let me state clearly that I’m am always looking for a balance; a well-rounded approach to making sure the whole of the Black Experience is properly represented.  I don’t have any problem with Tyler Perry and the other folks, but I’m just worried that much of this stuff is going to make its way into the annals of history as legitimate cultural markers for Black people. See, within our communities, there’s a broad range of cultural productions just awaiting their time in the shine. It’s a good thing that many of the artists who are taking it upon themselves to produce and share the work, rather than waiting on some Hollywood goon to ‘green light’ it.  That might be our only saving grace.  But still, it is very possible that one day, somebody is gonna read about Madea in a history book — are y’all okay with that?

There is a definitive difference between artists and entertainers. The most common but erroneous difference is that most people think artists are broke and entertainers are rich. On the contrary, there are some rich artists and some broke entertainers. Artists are generally, although loosely, defined by their ability to create a work with a specific message that is uniquely their own while entertainers are largely driven by corporate intentions with their work. Artists also desire complete control of their art and cringe when someone offers their unwarranted input about what would make their work ‘better’. In addition, artists run parallel to mainstream entertainers. They don’t get the notoriety, airplay, and clout through those corporate driven entities. Instead, they get labeled ‘underground’, ‘indie’ or something like that. In actuality, they’re not underground or indie at all but rather popular among specific niche markets.

Before getting into the meat of this, I had to make the distinction because I’m not talking about all of you–just the artists, whether you write, sing, emcee, dance, sculpt, play an instrument, paint or perhaps design jewelry or clothes. Either way, you run parallel to the mainstream.

To do what you do, you need survival skills, mainly because your grind is greater than the entertainer with a cushion and rose-colored glasses that the Suits give ‘em once they’ve signed away their souls. In addition, if you reside damn near anywhere other than LA or NY, you gotta know how to cope with being something of an outcast, in the eyes of the industry at large and in your respective city.

This leads me to Memphis, Birthplace of the Blues, home of Stax Records, Sun Studios, and a man who lived in a mansion called Graceland. With those claims to fame, you would think this city would be on fire with Hitmakers and World Class Artists. Well, it is. But let me set something straight. Memphis artists are NOT talented. Talented is the wrong word, hell, dogs can be talented. The more appropriate word for Memphis artists is GIFTED. The problem, however, is that most of them don’t realize, better yet, they don’t actualize it.

This leads me to Point #1.

Confidence.  In my humble opinion, most of the artists in this city are not as confident as I would like to see them. It seems like their need to be validated by some so-called major entity drives their self-confidence. Of course, this could be the case in many other cities as well. You have a gifted crop of artists who are on the same (or greater) level as the ones with pop appeal, but because they haven’t been afforded the opportunity to shine under those spotlights, they come off as ‘low grade’ and insecure. Just because your bank account doesn’t reflect your superstardom and/or you’re still waking up everyday going to some lame ass job, that doesn’t mean that you’re less of an artist.

You need to go about your work with the mindset that you have your own brand of greatness, then work on packaging that for your market. Being confident in your artistry will alleviate your insecurity of thinking you’re ‘not good enough’ (whatever in the hell that means).  Also, confidence will prompt you to present yourself in a serious manner. When you take yourself seriously, everyone else will too.

Create Opportunities. Don’t know if you’ve been paying attention, but major corporations are struggling to keep control of their zombies, er, I mean, customer base.  Many of us are awakening to search for our own lifelines.  Before, the Suits had to tell us what we wanted, but now, we tell the Suits what we want — and if they don’t deliver, we’ll get it ourselves. 

Take me for instance. I don’t listen to the radio anymore nor do I have cable television.  Between my Roku player, Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, and music sites such as SoulBounce, Wax Poetics, Giant Step, OkayPlayer, SoundCloud, ReverbNation, & Bandcamp, I’m ALWAYS finding dopeness. I’m not the only one like that.  There’s millions of people out there waiting on you to put your shit when it needs to be so they can cop it. But you wouldn’t know that if you’re too busy trying to find out when are the next American Idol tryouts.  Artists are now in the power seat of securing their very own slice of goodness — if they’re willing to think hard about the best ways to reach folks.

Another thing to keep in mind as you’re creating opportunities, you have to present yourself as a global brand — and stop wasting time trying to lock down your city.  Let’s face it, once you have cornered your local market, chances are, you still won’t make enough money to eat and pay bills — so developing a business strategy with enough room to grow past your hometown is critical.  Besides, once you have a website, you’re already global because anybody, anywhere in the world with internet access and Google can land on your homepage.  Keep that in mind.

Keep Your Business Acumen Sharp  Spend considerable time brushing up on the latest innovations and business trends.  It’s not about whether or not they fit into your immediate goals at the moment.  The point is to sharpen your insight and to remain well-informed. Besides, brilliant ideas are birthed through a process of knowledge gathering.  It won’t hurt you to know a little bit about everything because you never know how it can be incorporated into your artistic hustle.

Your Audience is NOT Your Peers. Lord. Where do I start with this one?  Ok, how about this: Your peers are artists just like you. Most of the time your artist friends are doing the same thing as you — creating and working.  Their support should not be regarded solely as participating at your event and/or buying from you.  Peer support is different from fan support. Your fans are those people who you create for — they love your work and support it monetarily.  Your peers are the ones you can lean on when the grind gets tough. Your peers already know you’re dope — how many times do you need them to tell you? No, you need to get your ass out there and move beyond your circle for the sake of market conversion.  Don’t know what that means? Your assignment is to research it.

Of course, there’s much more to this, however, this post is long enough. The point is if you’re serious about your artistry, then you will do what’s necessary to become successful — but according to your terms.  At the end of the day, an artist only wants to share their work with the people who desire it and willing to pay for it. As an artist, you have to commit yourself to doing these four things that I have posted here and accept the fact that this is WORK. So, chop chop.

August 17, 1887–The spirit formerly known as Marcus Mosiah Garvey was born in Jamaica.  Early in his life, he emigrated to the United States and became one of the greatest black leaders in history.  Through his organization, the Universal Negro Improvement Association, Garvey instilled a philosophy which sought to unite all Africans across the globe.  His ideals bore his name, Garveyism, but it is also referred to as Pan-Africanism.

In the documentary, A Great and Mighty Walk, Dr. John Henrik Clarke posited that Marcus Garvey should be re-examined and more thoroughly analyzed.  I couldn’t agree more.   Garvey could be considered a prophet of sorts because much of his philosophical thoughts were seriously ahead of its time.  Some 124 years after his birth, the African Diaspora is still not unified with Africa struggling to regain control and rebuild after centuries of colonialism.  Here in the U.S., truthfully speaking, African Americans are still largely engaged in a ‘catch up’ phenomenon that is being threatened by this current economic turbulence.  To that end, much of what Garvey wanted for Black people has not been fully realized.  Therefore, revisiting his ideals and concepts could perhaps light the way to a new understanding of how we are to proceed as a people in the Obama era.

For the record, Garvey supported the notion of Black women being involved in the movement, having a branch of the UNIA that was specifically designed for women.  I highly recommend locating a copy of the documentary, Look for Me in the Whirlwind, which is an in-depth look at the life and work of Marcus Garvey.  He died in 1940 at the age of 53.

Meanwhile, you may also visit his official website for a host of content related to the legacy of Garvey and Pan-Africanism. The poem featured here is taken from that website.

——————-

The Black Woman by Marcus Garvey

Black queen of beauty, thou hast given color to the world!
Among other women thou art royal and the fairest!
Like the brightest of jewels in the regal diadem,
Shin’st thou, Goddess of Africa, Nature’s purest emblem!
Black men worship at thy virginal shrine of truest love,
Because in thine eyes are virtue’s steady and holy mark,
As we see in no other, clothed in silk or fine linen,
From ancient Venus, the Goddess, to mythical Helen.

When Africa stood at the head of the elder nations,
The Gods used to travel from foreign lands to look at thee:
On couch of costly Eastern materials, all perfumed,
Reclined thee, as in thy path flow’rs were strewn-
sweetest that bloomed.

Thy transcendent marvelous beauty made the whole world mad,
Bringing Solomon to tears as he viewed thy comeliness;
Anthony and the elder Ceasars wept at thy royal feet,
Preferring death than to leave thy presence, their foes to meet.
You, in all ages, have attracted the adoring world,
And caused many a bloody banner to be unfurled:
You have sat upon exalted and lofty eminence,
To see a world fight in your ancient African defense.

Today you have been dethroned, through the weakness of your men,
While, in frenzy, those who of yore craved your smiles and your hand-
Those who were all monsters and could not with love approach you-
Have insulted your pride and now attack your good virtue.

Because of disunion you became mother of the world,
Giving tinge of robust color to five continents,
Making a greater world of millions of colored races,
Whose claim to beauty is reflected through our black faces.

From the handsome Indian to European brunette,
There is a claim for that credit of their sunny beauty
That no one can e’er to take from thee, 0 Queen of all
women who have borne trials and troubles and racial burden.

Once more we shall, in Africa, fight and conquer for you,
Restoring the pearly crown that proud Queen Sheba did wear:
Yea, it may mean blood, it may mean death; but still we shall fight,
Bearing our banners to Vict’ry, men of Afric’s might.

Superior Angels look like you in Heaven above,
For thou art fairest, queen of the seasons, queen of our love:
No condition sball make us ever in life desert thee,
Sweet Goddess of the ever green land and placid blue sea.

February 28, 1927

Whether we admit it or not, all of us have veils to cover our faces and fortresses around our hearts. Anything that will reveal the depth of our emotions is generally shielded from the piercing eyes of judgmental people, the predatory methods of leeches, and from those people that are looking to us for their guidance and support (we call it a show of strength). With the increasing onset of technology and how it has radically changed the way we communicate, we can easily express our thoughts without unearthing our emotional states. I have heard about breakups that happened via text message and Facebook. On the flip side, sexting has taken the place of raw and intimate conversations, which somehow renders the exchange as fruitless and unsexy. To me, it really can’t get any more impersonal as that. Slowly, we’re morphing into robots….and, unfortunately, many of us are okay with that….(continue here.)

For many of my writer friends, I speak for them. We hold Skype video chats and bi-monthly conference calls discussing people like you who complicate our writing process due to your lack of understanding us. Look, we talk about our characters as if they are real people because, to us, they are. We spend a great deal of time alone because the people and the world that we are creating needs our undivided attention. We realize that you want to kick it — and while we desire to kick it as well, we have to be disciplined enough to stay focused on the writing project at hand, or else, it won’t be completed.

Get this. Writing is hard work. It takes a lot out of a person. So to be a writer, that means that a person has to genuinely love it to do it. Of course, this is true for any artistic gift, but in this case, I’m talking about people like me — the scribes, the poets, the essayists, the journalists, the novelists, the screen writers, and the playwrights. Also, for those of you who think pushing us will get the work done faster, you’re wrong.  Since writing is an exhilarating, yet tedious exercise that works every creative bone in our bodies, it is not something that can manifest under pressure.  We need space and time to create, not a constant barrage of commands parading under the guise of concern.  So, for those of you who do that, cut it out.